Newtown Quakers to Hear Zoom Talk on Bucks Quaker Camp Onas 

Scott Hoskins (Board Chair), Katie Hulihan (camp counselor) and Charlie Forte (camper) will give an update on Bucks County Camp Onas via Zoom to the Newtown Quaker Meeting adult class at 9:45 a.m. on First Day (Sunday), February 13, 2022. 

The three panelists are members of Newtown Quaker Meeting.  They will discuss how the camp has weathered the pandemic and what they see in its future.

Scott Hoskins said “Camp Onas is a 101-year-old Quaker-based, nonprofit organization that operates a resident (overnight) summer camp for ages 8-13 at the northern end of Bucks County.  The program and the community are guided by closely-held Quaker values, simplicity, and activities focus on respect for oneself, one’s peers, the world at large, self-confidence, self-discovery, learning to challenge and accept limits, learning to listen with empathic understanding, and welcoming diverse perspectives and experiences.”  

Campers choose their own activities from a daily schedule in five areas:  Arts, Sports, Drama, Outdoor Skills, and Aquatics.  Arts includes woodworking, painting, photography, silk screening, jewelry making, etc.   Sports offers basketball, soccer, blacktop hockey, softball, yoga, ultimate Frisbee, archery, four square, football, pool games, etc.  Drama has singing, dancing, storytelling, theatrical productions, movie making, Onas band, and others.   Outdoor Skills offers hiking, gardening, composting, critter catching, fishing, and canoeing. Aquatics has a daily free swim, swimming lessons, diving, pool games, lap swimming, and water polo.

Last summer there were approximately 380 campers during the three 2-week sessions and one 1-week session.  Because of the number of kids wanting to be campers, most were limited to only one 2-week session.  The final 1-week session last summer was reserved for campers who would have “graduated” out of camp the previous summer but who missed that special experience because the Camp was closed due to the pandemic during the summer of 2021.

Newtown Friends Meeting, co-founded by the Quaker artist and minister, Edward Hicks, in 1815, holds services every First Day (Sunday) with classes for children and adults at 9:45 a.m. (Zoom only) and Meeting for Worship at 11:00 a.m. on Zoom or in person at the Meetinghouse, 219 Court Street. Currently, people attending in person are asked to be vaccinated and wear masks. 

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